Jets’ Rex Ryan admires 49ers’ defense

In the Jets’ grading system, the best players on the opposing team are shaded in blue.

And New York head coach Rex Ryan said his team’s scouting report on the 49ers‘ defense this week resembles an ocean.

“I looked and I go, ‘Is this right?’ ” Ryan said. “They have seven blue players, and what that means is those are Pro Bowl or All-Pro players. Seven of them on one defense. And then they’ve got a blue coach in (defensive coordinator) Vic Fangio. I was like, ‘Whoa!’ This is going to be tough.’ “

A blue coach? That description could have had a different meaning after Fangio watched his loaded defense get licked in Sunday’s loss in Minnesota. San Francisco allowed the most first downs (25), rushing yards (146) and the third-most points (24) of Fangio’s 19-game tenure. The 49ers didn’t register a sack for only the second time since the start of the 2011 season, and the average length of Minnesota’s three touchdown drives was 13 plays.

What happened? As the numbers suggest, there were breakdowns, from top to bottom.

“We didn’t execute as well we’re capable of executing,” Fangio said, “and I could have had us in better calls in certain situations.”

Said linebacker Patrick Willis: “We always want to go out there and play our best football. This past game, we didn’t do that. For us, it doesn’t discourage us as a defense. We believe in who we are.”

On Sunday, the 49ers will look to rebound against the Jets (2-1), whose offense doesn’t appear particularly fearsome. Running back Shonn Greene is averaging 2.8 yards per carry, quarterback Mark Sanchez ranks 23rd in the NFL in passer rating (78.3), and their second-leading receiver is Jeremy Kerley, a fifth-round pick in last year’s draft.

The 49ers are familiar with the Jets’ primary offensive threat, wide receiver Santonio Holmes (16 catches, 243 yards). Safety Donte Whitner played with Holmes at Ohio State and Fangio, then an assistant with the Ravens, studied him twice a season from 2006 to ’09 when Holmes averaged 959 receiving yards a year with the Steelers.

In Sunday’s 23-20 win over Miami, Holmes tied his career high with nine catches, and his 147 yards marked the second-highest total of his career.

“They want to get the ball to Santonio Holmes, first and foremost,” Whitner said. “I know what type of player he is. I know what he’s capable of doing. We have to understand and know where he is at all times.”

The 49ers figure to be focused on this week’s assignments after Whitner and defensive tackle Justin Smith were among those who suggested they overlooked the Vikings last week.

Before the game at Minnesota, Fangio joked that Smith was in charge of taking unfocused players into the “back room” to “beat some sense into them.” Asked if Smith’s services would be required this week on the heels of such an attention-grabbing defeat, Fangio didn’t smile.

“I don’t go up and tell him he’s got to do it,” Fangio said. “I think he’s one of the leaders of this team, and I think he would take it on himself to do that if he sensed that.”

Briefly: Nose guard Isaac Sopoaga (knee, ankle) sat out practice for the second straight day, and it appears Ricky Jean Francois will make his third career start in Sopoaga’s place Sunday. … Running back Brandon Jacobs (knee) and wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. (ankle) were limited in practice. … Former 49ers defensive tackle Bryant Young and guard Larry Allen are among 13 first-year-eligible nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Young spent his 14-year career with San Francisco. Allen played the final two season of his 14-year career with the 49ers.